After breakfast, you are going to visit the Drepung Monastery, located in the west suburb of the city. It is one of the ‘Three Great Monasteries’ and the largest one in Tibetan Buddhism. Looking at a distance, the monastery is like a heap of rice, consisting of a group of white buildings layer upon layer. In the afternoon, visit the Sera Monastery, the second largest monastery in Tibet which is well-known for the excellent debating of Buddhist doctrines among lamas. After that, turn to visit the nearby Norbulingka Park, the most beautiful and largest man-made park in Tibet. This park has been built for 200 years and used to be the Summer Palace of religious leaders of the region.

Your impressive excursion to the splendid Potala Palace is scheduled in the morning. Originally built in the 7th century as an imperial palace, the Potala Palace has experienced a 600-year’s queasy time until the reconstruction in the 17th century. From then on, it has been the political, religious, cultural and economic center of Tibet. Currently, it is the largest treasure house of this mysterious land, attracting a great number of travelers and pilgrims everyday. The following is a visit to Tibet Museum, which exhibits a number of historical relics and treasures.

After lunch, you will come to the Jokhang Temple, which is located in the city center. Constructed in the 7th century, the peak time of Tubo Kingdom, this temple is the best architectural combination of Tibet, Han, Nepal and India. It is also a holy Buddhist temple of worshiping the rare life-size statue of Sakyamuni at age twelve. Around the temple, it is the thriving bazaar of Barkhor Street, which attracts a large number of pilgrims, travelers, businessmen and expats. Today’s exciting journey will come to an end after visiting the Tibetan Traditional Medicine Hospital.

Today, we will take a scenic drive to Gyantse. On the way we cross the Khamba La Pass (4,794m) with a brief halt to savor the beauty of the Yamdrok Tso (Turquoise Lake), one of the three largest sacred lakes in Tibet and the beautiful Nazin Kang Sang glacier (7,252m). Soon, we came across another pass, The Karo La Pass (5,045m). From our vehicle, we can enjoy views of huge glaciers tumbling down into the road before reaching Gyantse. In Gyantse, we visit the Khumbum Stupa, Phalkot Monastery and Gyantse Dzong (Fortress), which is one of the best preserved dzongs in Tibet. Overnight in Gyantse.

After breakfast, we drive towards Shigatse, the second largest city in Tibet. On the way, we will visit Shalu Monastery. Founded in 1040, Shalu Monastery is known for its beautiful and ancient mural paintings. Next, we continue to Shigatse. In Shigatse, we visit the popular Tashilhunpo Monastery which holds both historical and cultural importance for being founded by Gendun Drup, the First Dalai Lama in 1447. After sightseeing in Shigatse, we will have the remainder of the day free for resting. This will help us with acclimatization and the next day’s long drive. Overnight in Shigatse.

After breakfast, we leave Shigatse for Rongbuk. On the way, we will visit the Sakya Monastery which is the ancestral temple of the Sakyapa sect of Tibetan Buddhism. After the visit to Sakya Monastery, we continued driving towards Rongbuk. Here, we visit the Rongbuk monastery, which is located at the foot of the mighty Everest and is the highest monastery in the world. While here, we also enjoy the stunning mountainous scenery all around us. Overnight in Rongbuk.

We leave Rongbuk in the morning to visit the Everest Base Camp (5,250m). On the way, we enjoy spectacular views of high mountains like Cho Oyu (8,201m), Shishapangma (8,013m) and, of course, the mighty Everest (8,848m) also known as Mt. Chomolongma in the Tibetan side. Today, we accomplished one of the major highlights of our trip, reaching the base camp of Mt. Everest. We make approximately a 16km round trip around the Everest Base Camp. The base camp itself is dry and barren, but the view of Everest is more than compensating. After spending some quality time at the base of the world’s highest mountain, we make Zhangmu our next destination. On the way, we cross the Lalung La Pass (5,124m), Shung La Pass (5,200m) and Nyalam Pass (3,800m) which offer enchanting views of the surrounding Himalayan peaks. We then drive gradually down from the dry Tibetan Plateau towards the verdant and fertile vegetation of Zhangmu on the Nepalese side of the border. Overnight in Zhangmu.
Note that on rare occasions due to bad weather or political riots the local government may close down the road to the Everest base camp for safety reasons and without prior notice.

A few kilometers drive from Kerung to Friendship Bridge brings us to Immigration Control in Kerung where we are expected to complete some custom formalities. We then depart with our Tibetan guide and walk across the river where a Nepalese staff will be waiting for us. After around 4 hours of driving through deep valleys, we will reach Kathmandu.